Samstag, 26. Dezember 2015

5 days of Bookmas – Day 5: Cozy Reads (Book recommendations)



12 days of Bookmas is a video series which was created by Hailey over at Hails Hearts NYC. She posts one video every day on the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I am joining in a little bit late, so I will post every day on these 5 days before Christmas. I hope you guys have fun with it!


Today’s topic:
Cozy reads for the winter time

For this topic I am going to change things up a little bit. I will recommend some books to you, which I think are perfect for reading during the winter holidays, because they are books which make you feel cozy and warm inside, or because they are just perfect for a cold winter evening next to a cup of tea. I will give you the title, the author and the synopsis which can be found on Goodreads. These books were all 5 star books for me, so I really highly recommend that you check them out!


#1: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?


#2: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.


#3: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.


#4: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.
It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.


#5: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens. 



I tried to include all sorts of genres, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Contemporary and diverse fiction. I really hope you guys liked these recommendations!

Anyway, that was my fifth and last post for Bookmas! I hope you guys enjoyed this little series. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Donnerstag, 24. Dezember 2015

5 days of Bookmas – Day 4: Best book friendships



12 days of Bookmas is a video series which was created by Hailey over at Hails Hearts NYC. She posts one video every day on the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I am joining in a little bit late, so I will post every day on these 5 days before Christmas. I hope you guys have fun with it!


Today’s topic:
Best book friendships



#1: Juliette and Kenji (Shatter Me)
Juliette and Kenji have what I would call a perfect friendship. They tease each other, they make fun of one another, but still they care for each other so much, which is great. You can really see their friendship develop through the whole series, and it’s great to see that a boy and a girl can be friends in a book without having romantic feelings for each other; that is just so refreshing!


#2: Ron, Hermione and Harry (Harry Potter)
It is so rare that three book-characters can be together without being stuck in these endless and so annoying love-triangles, and this is so refreshing that this is actually the case with these characters that I had to include them. Their friendship is so strong and they went through such a lot of hard times together, but still they managed to stay together. Throughout the books they have fights and arguments, but still they always find a way back to each other, and that is beautiful.


#3: Aristotle and Dante (Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe)
Ari and Dante’s friendship is truly something special. They literally met each other somewhere unexpected, and then their friendship developed in an even more unexpected but beautiful way. Like all the ones I mentioned before, I think they would go through hell for the other person, because they just care so much about each other. Their friendship is probably so strong that without each other they wouldn’t be able to be happy every again. Such a strong bond definitely deserves this spot in my list!


#4: James and William (The Infernal Devices)
Alright, I understand that you might say that including Parabatai in this list is kind of cheating, but how could I just ignore these two? I have never seen such a strong friendship and love for each other like in these books. Jem would do anything for Will, and same the other way around. But I don’t think it’s only because they are Parabatai, but because they just belong with each other. All these years they have protected one another and stood by each other’s side, even when one person was on the verge of dying, but still they managed to stay together. This unconditional love is what anyone wants from their friend, right?



#5: Karou and Zuzana (Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
Now talking about strong bonds between people, these two definitely belong here. I love it when there are strong female friendships in books, and when the two girls can just conquer the world on their own (because we don’t need no man, right?) and this is definitely the case with these two. If Karou goes to hell, Zuzana will definitely follow her. Literally. They are just the best friend anyone could wish for.




So these were my favourite friendships! Let me know which book friendships you think are the best. I hope you enjoyed it, and see you tomorrow for a last update on Christmas-day! Bye, Bye!

Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 2015

5 days of Bookmas – Day 3: Favourite villains



12 days of Bookmas is a video series which was created by Hailey over at (). She posts one video every day on the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I am joining in a little bit late, so I will post every day on these 5 days before Christmas. I hope you guys have fun with it!



Today’s topic (aka the topic I could talk about 24/7):
Favourite villains



#1: Sebastian Morgenstern (The Mortal Instruments)
People who talk to me about favourite characters might have noticed that I have special feelings for characters with daddy-issues and a very tragic past. This character is no different in that. However, as a villain Sebastian is just perfect. He has everything it takes. He is evil, he does not hesitate to achieve his goals, but he also has his softer side, which is amazing. In general he is a very complex and interesting character, which just makes him my favourite character of all time. If you haven’t read the TMI series yet, definitely do that!


#2: “The villain” (Grisha-Trilogy)
Now I can’t tell you the name of this character, because that would kind of be a spoiler, so we will just call him “the villain” of the Grisha trilogy. There is this one plot-twist in the first book that just changes everything, and from this moment on I liked this character. I saw the twist coming, but still it shocked me, and that’s what I love about characters: when they can surprise me. This character has a lot more depth to him than I originally would have thought, so that is amazing as well! But I guess everyone who has read the Grisha-trilogy loves this character, right?


#3: Warner (Shatter Me)
Before you all say “But Warner isn’t what you think…” I KNOW. I read the whole series, and I do know what happens but still, he starts off as a villain (in Juliette’s mind, so). With Warner, we are again at the “horrible past” and “daddy-issues” point of the story, but still, I really like his story and character. As I said before, I like it when characters go a lot deeper than you think they will, and that definitely happens with this character as the series progresses. 


#4: President Snow (Hunger Games)
Now, I no lot “love” President Snow whatsoever, but when I thought about good villains he also came to my mind. He has everything what a good villain needs. He is creepy as hell, he does everything to kill his enemy and he does not hesitate while doing it. What more could you ask for? This guy definitely sometimes gave me Goosebumps while I was reading Hunger Games, and the anger about him sometimes just overwhelmed me. If that isn’t a sign that he is a good villain, I don’t know what it. 


#5: Volturi (Twilight)
Now, I know that this might seem like an unusual answer, but I still really like the Volturi in the Twilight series. These guys definitely creeped me out as well sometimes when I read about them. But again, it is not the actual things they do in the series, but their backstory which interested me a lot. Each and every one of them (and their wives) have such a great and complex backstory, that sometimes I was just astonished at how well though-out these characters actually are. If you have read “The world of Bella and Edward” you know what I am talking about. Even in “life and death”, which is kind of a spin-off book of Twilight, we get to know small details about them. I just love these guys!



So these were some of my favourite villains. Let me know which villains you really like! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and I also hope to see you tomorrow. Bye Bye!